Cerebral malaria in a young woman who had traveled to Africa

A young woman became sick after visiting Zambia. She died a few weeks after onset of headache and flu-like symptoms. The slide is not dirty! The dirty-looking stuff in the picture below is birefringent pigment called hemozoin. This is typical of a falciparum infection. There are ring hemorrhages and Dürck granulomas present as well. Dürck granulomas are accumulations of mononuclear cells, predominantly macrophages, probably related to resorption of ring hemorrhages.

Hemozoin pigment

Dürck granuloma